The present invention relates to industrial circuit breakers and particularly to an assembly for signaling a circuit breaker's programmer box that the circuit breaker's electronic trip unit has been actuated, and therefore the circuit breaker contacts have been displaced from their closed to their open position.
High ampere-rated circuit breakers such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,073,936 entitled Electric Circuit Interrupter" are currently used in industrial facilities to protect humans and equipment from danger due to overcurrent conditions within the electrical distribution systems in those facilities. Many of these circuit breakers are controlled by electronic programmer boxes.
The programmer box is connected to a sensor that measures the current flow through the circuit breaker. When an overcurrent condition in the circuit breaker is detected by the programmer box, the programmer box actuates the circuit breaker's electronic trip unit which displaces the circuit breaker's contacts from their closed to their open position. As a result the current flow through the circuit breaker, and part or all of the electrical distribution system, is terminated.
To ensure the operability of the electronic trip unit, and thus the operability of the circuit breaker and user safety, it is desirable for the programmer box to confirm that the electronic trip unit has been actuated. Furthermore it is desirable to retrofit, with minimal adjustments, a means for detecting actuation of the electronic trip units into existing circuit breakers.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a logic switch take-up system that signals the programmer box when the electronic trip unit has been actuated.
A further object is to allow the logic switch take-up system to be installed into a circuit breaker's electronic trip unit with minimal adjustments.